The Trump administration is deporting people to countries other than their home countries, often without warning.
In March 2025, the US administration began deporting people with criminal records to third countries, such as South Sudan, instead of their countries of origin. One such case – the deportation of a Vietnamese man to South Sudan – is reported by the publication NPR.
Photo: Karen | Dreamstime.com
Ngoc Phan, a 40-year-old woman from a Seattle suburb, was preparing her husband, Tuan Thanh Phan, for deportation to Vietnam. She packed her clothes and phone, and relatives abroad prepared to meet him at the airport. “Everything that was done — my conversations with the ICE officer, filling out the declaration form, giving him the names of who would meet him at the airport — indicated that he was going to be sent to Vietnam,” Ngoc Phan told NPR. But on March 3, 2025, after being released from prison where he was serving a 25-year sentence for murder and assault, Tuan was picked up by ICE agents and unexpectedly sent to South Sudan.
Tuan, who had a green card, lost his permanent resident status in 2009 because of a criminal conviction. His crime, related to a gang conflict in 2000, resulted in the wounding of a bystander. Ngoc accepted deportation as inevitable and planned to join her husband later.
"We accepted it, we planned for it, we even expected it. And then in the middle of the night he was taken away and sent to South Sudan," she said.
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The practice of deportation to third countries
Tuan was among those initially scheduled to be deported to South Africa and then to South Sudan, an unstable and poor country. Those deported included people from Mexico, Myanmar, Cuba and Laos. The U.S. administration justifies such deportations by saying that the countries of origin refuse to accept citizens with criminal records.
“As an ICE officer, I have seen for years that countries refuse to take back murderers, rapists, and other criminals, causing them to be released to the United States,” said Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons. He said deportation to third countries removes a public safety threat. The State Department, Lyons said, played a key role in reaching agreements with such countries.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told a Cabinet meeting on April 15, 2025, “The further we go, the better, so they don’t come back across the border.” However, ICE did not specify whether it was first trying to deport people to their home countries, such as Vietnam or Mexico, or how many people had already been sent to third countries.
Litigation and Violations of Rights
Immigration lawyers filed a lawsuit against the deportation to South Sudan, arguing that the migrants were given less than 24 hours to appeal the decision. They had previously challenged the deportation to Libya in May 2025, citing instability and abuses against the migrants.
Massachusetts federal judge Brian Murphy, appointed by President Biden, ruled on May 20, 2025, that migrants facing deportation to foreign countries must be given ample time to challenge their deportation and undergo a “credible fear interview” before being deported.
“Is it okay to destroy people’s lives and their families just because they once committed a crime for which they have already served time?” asked Matt Adams, legal director of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, one of the groups that filed the lawsuit.
Advocates say the rush to deport migrants violates their rights, especially if they do not speak English. Greg Chen of the American Immigration Lawyers Association said, “The law requires that the country of deportation be safe. South Sudan, which is experiencing armed conflict, does not meet that criterion.” The U.S. State Department has issued a travel warning to South Sudan due to crime and kidnappings.
The current situation
Judge Murphy did not bar deportations to third countries, but he did require notice in the deportee’s native language and 15 days to appeal. After the flight to South Sudan departed, he ordered ICE to conduct a “reasonable fear” assessment for the deportees while they were in custody. The plane landed at a military base in Djibouti on May 22, 2025. There, the migrants and ICE agents remain awaiting the court’s decision.
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The Trump administration appealed Murphy's decision to the Supreme Court, arguing that it interferes with immigration policy and international agreements.
"The court stopped the deportation mid-flight by forcing the criminals to be held at a military base in Djibouti that was not designed for that purpose," U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer said. The migrants' lawyers are expected to respond on June 4, 2025.
Ngoc Phan is upset that her husband has been categorized as an illegal immigrant who has committed multiple crimes.
"I am outraged. They call my husband a monster without understanding the details of his case. He has already served 25 years," she said. Ngoc has not heard from Tuan since he was sent to Djibouti.
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